Charging apparatus.



No. 845,601. 4 PATENTED'FEB. 26, 1907.

' T. P. & J. G. WITHERBBB.

GHARGING APPARATUS.

ATTRNEYS rrnrTn sTATns PATENT Omron.

THOMAS FRANCIS WITHERBEE AND JOHN GILMAN WITHERBEE, OF PORT HENRY, NEVVYORK.

CHARGING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented reb.`26,19o7.

Application filed August 15.1904. i Serial No. 220.796.

T0 @ZZ whom it muy concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS FRANCIS WITHERBEE and JOHN GILMAN WITHERBEE, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Port Henry, in the county of Essex and State of New Y Ork, have invented a new and Improved Charging Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to a charging device especially designed `for blast-furnaces, but capable of general use.

Blast-furnaces using a single bell are often at a disadvantage, owing to the fact that the bell admits of no change in the manner of distributing the charge. This defect of the single bell is more marked as the furnaces are made larger, which is the constant tendency at the present day, for if the bell is of proper diameter to deposit the charge in a suitable way as regards the circumference of the stack at the stock-line it will cover so much of the stock-line area as not to put enough ore and fine material in the center. The circulation, therefore, will take the line of least resistance up through the center of the furnace. If the bell is small enough to supply the center with its due proportion of ore, the outside will become the most open and the circulation will be next to the furnace-lining. In such case the fuel consumption will be high and the iron product will be irregular and of inferior quality. It is to be understood that the reason for the faulty distribution is the fact that only the coarse fuel and limestone have much tendency to spread in either direction after being deposited, while the iron ore, especially if it is iine, stays practically in the position in which it is placed by the bell.

It is the principal object of our invention to overcome these defects.

Reference is to be had to the accompany' ing drawings, forming a part of this specifical tion, in which similar characters of reference vided, which is of similar character in some respects to the bells ordinarily employed; but it is capable of being moved upwardly from the mouth of the lip-ring, as well as downwardly. The bell is preferably conical in shape, as is usual, and below it is provided a frustO-conical ring d, the surface of which is substantially continuous With the surface of the bell. rlhe bell is provided with a iiange c and the ring with a iiange d', which flanges are designed to register with each other, so as to support the bell upon the ring. These flanges are preferably turned inwardly, as indicated in the drawings.

A hollow sleeve c2 is attached to the apex of the bell c and designed for Operating it. A rod d2 is also provided for operating the ring d. It preferably extends through the sleeve c2 and is attached to a skeleton frame d3, with which the ring d is provided. It will be seen that the bell c is seated upon the ring d and that the two together constitute a bell ofthe ordinary character when they are in this position, and that they can be lowered away from the lip-ring to permit a charge of material to be deposited in the stack near the walls thereof. The rod d2 may be operated in the usual manner by means of a lever e, pivoted upon a stationary part f of the furnace at the point f Y Mechanism is also provided for operating the sleeve c2. Any desired mechanism may be employed, but a practical form is illustrated in the drawings. The rod d2 is provided With a piston g, which is adapted to reciprocate in a cylinder 7L, which is provided with compressed air or other operating fluid by means of pipes 7L. The cylinder is connected with the sleeve by means of a frame i. It will be obvious that when the rod d2 is held in a stationary position by means of the lever e and the mechanism used for operating it the introduction of a pressure medium above the piston g in the cylinder h will cause the cylinder to rise, and consequently will lift the bell c from its seat. The effect of this n ill be to allow the charge of material to drop through the opening in the flange d and to deposit it near the center of the furnace. It will be obvious that with this arrangement the material may be deposited at any desired part of the furnace, or it may bo distributed uniformly over the entire area of it at the same time.

The object of the cylinder h is twofold: Besides operating the bell c it locks it to the IOO ring d when the pressure liuid is confined in the cylinder on both sides of the piston, so as to cause the bell c and ring d to be connected together and form a large distributing-bell. It will be obvious also that when the bell and ring are locked together they can be lowered and they will still be rigidly secured instationary position with relation to each other. A spreading cylinder or bell 7c may also be secured to the bottom of the ring d in the center thereof, as indicated in Fig. 3. This will assist in distributing the material' deposited in the center of the furnace.

It will be understood that our invention is not limited to the particular construction involving the piston q and cylinder 7i, but that a rack on the sleeve c2, operated by a gear attached to the end of a lever, could be substituted for it.

The operation of the device has been d'escribed in a way; but it will be given again briefly: By lowering the bell c d' the contents of the hopper c may be distributed in an annular ring near the lining of the furnace, while by raising the bell c without disturbing the ring d the contents of the hopper may be placed in or near the center of the furnace, according to Whether the spreader lc is used or not and according to its diameter. .ltwill be seen that by charging through the largeI bell or the small bell', as conditions may require, perfect control of the distribution ofv the charge is given to the furnace manager. It will also be seen that if more than one lind of fuel be used, or if it is desired to charge some particular kind of ore at some speciall locality, it can be readily done by the use of our invention. It will also be apparent that the invention is not strictly limited to the construction shown and described, but that the latter is capaple of many modifications within the power of a skilled mechanic.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. A charging device, comprising a hopper, a frusto-conical ring movable relatively thereto, a spreading-bell supported by said frusto-conical ring and depending therebelow, and mechanism connected with said frusto-conical ring for moving the same and said spreading-bell relatively to said hop er.

2. A charging device, comprising a bell, a ring located below the bell and having a seat for it, said bell and ring having a substantially continuous external conical surface, said bell being movable independently of the ring, and a spreader-bell mounted below said rmO.

In a blast-furnace-charging apparatus, the combination of a lip-ring having a vertical wall at its lower end, a bell adapted to close the lower end of the lip-ring, and a ring located below the bell and adapted to coperate with the same, said ring being provided with an inwardly-extending flange forming an obtuse angle with the vertical wall ofthe lip-ring, and constituting a seat for the bell, said flange being located below the bottoni of said vertical wall, whereby materials discharged from the lip-ring will be thrown beyond the edge of the flange.

4. In a blast-furnace-charging apparatus, the combination of a bell, a ring, said bell and ring when the former is seated on the latter constituting a continuous distributing-bell, a hollow sleeve for operating the bell, a rod for operating said ring, a cylinder on said sleeve, and a piston on the rod in saidA cylinder.

5. In a blast-furnace-charging apparatus, the combination of a hopper, a lip-ring therefor having an open lower end, a bell adapted to close said lower end, a sleeve for vertically movingv said bell, a conical ring below said lip-ring and registering with the lower edge of said bell, and a rod extending through said sleeve for reciprocating said ring.

6. In a blast-furnace-charging apparatus, the combination of a hopper, a bell, a conical ring, said bell and ring constituting when secured together a continuous conical distributing-bell, a hollow sleeve for operating said bell, a rod foroperating said ring, a cylinder on said sleeve, and a piston on said rod in said cylinder.

7. In a blast-furnace-charging apparatus, the combina-tion of a hopper, a lip-ring having an open lower end, a bell closing said open lowerI end of the lip-ring, means for raising the bell to discharge the contents of the hopper into the center of the furnace, a conical ring, means for lowering the bell and conical ring simultaneously to direct the contents of the hopper around the furnace near the lining thereof, and a distributing-bell mounted at the center of the ring for further distributing the material discharged from the hopper when the first-mentioned bell is raised.

8. ln a blast-furnace-charging apparatus, the combination of a li -ring having an open end, a bell closing sait open end, means for raising the bell to discharge the contents of the lip-ring into the center of the furnace, a ring, means for lowering the bell and ring simultaneously to direct the contents of the lip-ring around the furnace near the lining thereof, and a distributing-bell mounted below the ring for further distributing the material discharged from the hopper when the first-mentioned bell is raised.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS FRANCIS WITHERBEE. JOHN. GILMAN WITHERBEE.

Titnessesz WM. VIGGER's, E. L. CHATHAM.

IOO

IIO 

